1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the cosmetic art of hair and, more particularly, to hair treatments which can impart so-called steadiness and firmness to the hair and exhibit excellent touch when they are applied to the hair
2. Description of the Prior Art
The hair is one of the most important parts of human body, on which a diversity of beauty treatments are applied. Among the beauty treatments, the permanent wave treatment is a well-known beauty art and is most effective in setting the hair properly. However, this treatment has the drawback that since oxidation and reduction reactions are utilized to set the hair, the hair is considerably damaged during the treatment.
In recent years, there has been a demand for the development of hair treatments which can effectively set the hair without resorting to any permanent wave art. Various methods have been proposed including, for example, a method of reinforcing the hair using combinations of quaternary ammonium salts, cationic polymers and harmless divalent metals (Japanese Laid-open Application No. 55-54551), a method in which water-soluble salts of chitosan are used as fill-forming resin to improve the retentivity and stability of dressed hair (Japanese Laid-open Application No. 52-156938), and a method wherein anionic polymers and cationic surface active agents and silicone derivatives are used in combination to impart high set retentivity and curl durability to hair (Japanese Laid-open Application No. 55-108811) and the like.
However, although all of these methods are effective in imparting steadiness and firmness to the hair at the time of setting the hair, they have the disadvantage that the hair treated becomes stiff, considerably impeding the inherent touch of hair.
Further, there has been proposed a method using oils which are one starting material of cosmetics but such a method is no widely applied because of the stickiness of oil.